Apr 16, 2011
You know how I know my weekend is going to rock?
Let’s do this.
SIDE NOTE: Hopefully I can blog the progress I am having with learning this – I spent a portion of my lab day yesterday setting up Comfortable Mexican Sofa, and it was so easy. Can’t wait to actually build things.
Apr 5, 2011
A friend of mine, who spends a lot of his non-working hours working on his music career, recently asked me to give him some feedback on the new video he had released. We’ve had a good back and forth every time he releases a new video and/or song, and I give him my honest feedback about both the music and the video production.
At one point in the conversation, he said this:
“I just think… that this is my ticket out of accounting.”
And I’m sure he was half joking, but that he half meant it. Quickly evaluating the state of the music industry and the difficulty one can encounter trying to break through, I quickly typed this reply:
“Haha, keep dreaming, pal.”
I hesitated to send it. Throughout my entire life, I’ve had people tell me to keep dreaming.
You want to make video games? Keep dreaming, Jon.
Dunk on a basketball net at your height? Keep dreaming, Jon.
Create a career out of something you love? Keep dreaming, Jon.
And then it hit me: why should I be someone who dismisses the dreams of another? There are enough of those in the world. We should spend most of our efforts supporting those around us and making sure they get every opportunity to succeed.
I quickly revised what I had written…
“Keep pushing, bud.”
Mar 11, 2011
If you have been following either my Facebook or my Twitter feeds, you are well aware that I am currently in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest Interactive (#SXSWi). So far, I’ve been acting as a shutterbug with my fancy pants Canon T2i, and hopefully that will continue.
On the way down, I was stopped by the customs agent. Here is the rough conversation that happened:
Agent: “What are you doing in Austin?”
Me: “Attending a conference about the web. South by Southwest.”
Agent: “Will you not be networking at South by Southwest?”
Me: “Well, yeah I guess.”
Agent: “That counts as a business reason. Do you have promotional items with you?”
Me: “PostageApp t-shirts…”
Agent: “Go into the doors on your right.”
Where I was grilled by another customs agent. Had all of my bags searched and was almost fined $5,300. You read that right, I was almost fined $5,300.
Why did this happen?
Both of these missteps could have cost me dearly (the amount mentioned earlier) and had I not had a clean sheet when I had entered, I might not have been so lucky. So here are some tips for travelers who are doing some promoting with t-shirts and other material:
I was lucky to have gotten off with just a warning, but at least I’m here now. Hopefully I will be taking notes, pictures, and video of my day to day activities here, so I can’t wait to start!
Cheers!
Feb 28, 2011
After an incredible celebratory weekend (for my birthday!) I took the time to count up all of the touch points people had with me throughout. Here’s the quick run down:
- 209 Facebook wall posts
- 54 Twitter mentions
- 18 text messages
- 2 phone calls
- 1 voicemail
And I had plenty of interactions in real life too, so there are definitely some non-trackable points there.
I am incredibly humbled to have such wonderful people in my life who spend a bit of time out of their busy days to wish me a happy birthday in one way or another. As per usual, my presents is your presence.
Thank you for the awesome year, here’s to another one.
As usual: here’s me ruining my sweet messages with my ugly mug.
Feb 2, 2011
Welp, I said I would do this once a month, so here I am! (Despite being a day late)
Let’s take a look at how I did:
Blog More
Definitely did this, blogged more than once a week in January, and it wasn’t too tough. The CRTC seems to have helped me out quite a bit, especially near the end of January. Looking to make it more regular and consistent, and hopefully something more valuable to someone other than myself.
Attend More Events
Half half. There were definitely a few events I missed out on. However, I do not regret that – it’s tough to go to an event after work and be home in time to get to sleep properly. I would rather forego events than sleep less than 6 hours a night. For the sake of my health of course.
Become More Active
No gym, but I did start a workout regiment at home in the mornings. It’s a great way to wake up and leads to quite a bit of energy for the day. Looking to keep increasing the amount of exercise I do at home, hopefully being able to fully supplement the gym. Still wish I had access to a pool though.
Travel
Saving for it!
Develop a New Skill
Haven’t decided on this one yet, but the year is young.
Be Awesome at Work
I sure hope so.
—
That’s it so far. Apologies on not creating more value for others with this blog post, but I regret nothing.
Here’s to February!
Jan 24, 2011
One of the first things people learn about me is that I eat a lot. No really, I can consume enough to feed a small village within a day. It is both unhealthy and hilarious.
As of late, due to the increasingly sedentary lifestyle I have chosen to lead, my body has been taking a hit. Love handles, a little belly, you name it. In a (losing) effort to bring my weight back into my average range, I have begun to scale back on the amount I eat.
Comparison (Universally applicable, I hope)
Before = two 12oz steaks, two scoops of mashed potatoes, and bread. No. Problem.
Now = one 10oz steak, one scoop of mashed potatoes, and some bread. Resist urge to eat more. Cause I will.
I have been doing this since about November, and only recently has my body begun to appreciate my efforts. It has stopped barking orders during dinner time, orders that sound like a drill sergeant during boot camp. Only it was a boot camp to get fat.
“Eat the rest of that plate, son, or you will be the laughing stock of this fat camp.”
No, good sir, I refuse.
Thankfully, my body has adjusted to eating a regular person’s portion. Maybe still larger than most would consider “regular,” but hey, it’s progress.
Next step: actually stick to a regular exercise plan, more than the pushups and sit-ups that I do in the morning. Easily doable.
Next-er step: use my new found strength (from exercising) to fight crime. Maybe plausible.
Jan 11, 2011
We all heard the news yesterday: the TTC is asking to raise fares once again. Now, if you’re a regular rider like myself, I am sure the news comes as a bit of a kick in the face, considering how high they already are.
However, I have to tell you right now: my crappy rides to and from work are not because of the TTC drivers, or the unions, or their management. I have had some really bad rides simply because people are just so rude.
Here are some really common examples:
Really guys? We’re going to act like this now? We are a society of people, not a pack of wild animals. Rushing onto or off of a public transit vehicle will not let you move any faster than the rest of us. Leaning on poles that other people need to hold onto is just plain rude. Giving your backpack a seat over someone else is even worse. And you know what, you sat down the entire ride, you can wait another 30 seconds for us to file out before you get up, thank you very much.
It is experiences like this that infuriate me about riding the TTC. I know, I know, it’s inefficient public transit that isn’t exactly the most reliable in the world so we end up having some really crappy experiences. But at the end of the day, do you really want to make it worse for everyone else by being a complete ass?
So people, please, in the midst of this cold winter and fare hike requests, remember: it’s PUBLIC transit. Do your best to make everyone else’s ride much more pleasant, and we’ll all benefit from that sort of behaviour.
Dec 28, 2010
Welp, here comes the close of 2010, and it seemed to have passed by rather quickly. Only feels like yesterday that we were ushering in the new year and saying “Here’s to 2010!”
Whoops.
Anyhoo, with the new year comes new opportunities, new friends, and most importantly, new goals. I’m using my blog as a launching pad for what I want to accomplish in the new year, and I will be doing a monthly update just to make sure I stay on track and I am accountable for my own words.
Here’s my list of goals:
There we go, six rather large tasks for me to complete for 2011. Like I said, I will check in once a month to talk about progress and difficulties that I may have, it will keep me accountable for all of my goals!
Want to join in? Let me know! Maybe we can make a support group if there are enough people!
Happy new year everyone!
Dec 14, 2010
So it’s been a little more than two weeks since I made my last post, telling everyone what sort of jobs I was looking for. Well, I’m happy to (finally) announce that I found and joined, what is literally, my dream job.
I have joined The Working Group!
I am leading the charge for PostageApp, our in-house product that allows web apps of all flavours to send transactional or event-driven emails. It’s been around for a while, but the fully featured, end-to-end product will be released in the near future and I am going to make sure that the launch is going to be a great success.
I get to do everything I mentioned in my “what am I looking for” post, and I get to work with an amazing team of really smart people. What more could a guy ask for?
Always happy to expand on my role a little if you have questions, and I am always happy to go for coffee, so if you want to reach me, shoot me an email at my new work address!
In addition, if you are running a web app (social networking sites, social gaming sites, e-commerce sites, anything that sends emails to users on a regular basis) or know someone who does, I would love to hear from you! We’re getting tons and tons of feedback for the app, and I want to make sure I speak to as many people as possible, so please send me an email.
Huge thank you to everyone who helped me out during my job search, you helped me find opportunities, kept my spirits up, and introduced me to all the right people. You’re the best.
Feel free to ask questions or leave comments!
Nov 29, 2010
For the past month, everyone who has heard about my situation has asked me the same question: “What sort of job are you looking for?”
My answer, for the past month, has been the same: “I’m not entirely sure, I’d like to do marketing, and I want to be challenged and have interesting work to do. Having fun, and being involved in social media would be a bonus.”
Incredibly focused, I am, eh?
Well, after speaking with a lot of people and discovering a lot of different opportunities, I think I’ve nailed down exactly what I want to do, or at least the various aspect I want to be involved in.
I want to be involved in marketing, project management, and business development. I want to help a business grow, in more ways than one, and hopefully be given the creative control that I yearn for. Specifically, I love to cultivate communities, create awesome campaigns, and forge relationships and strategic partnerships with other businesses, among other things. I want to be challenged on a daily basis, because I want to kick serious amounts of ass day in and day out.
Now that I am able to focus on exactly what type of job I am looking for, I think this job search might get a little easier on myself. Have a job in mind that you think I would be a good fit for? Let me know!